


The Golden Child

by AL (AlchemysHomunculi)



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Daddy Issues, F/M, FMA Big Bang 2016, Flashbacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7842967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlchemysHomunculi/pseuds/AL
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finding out about Hohenheim's new sons certainly hadn't been easy news to swallow. Faced with strict orders not to harm the brothers, Envy finds himself tortured by the memories of the son he was supposed to be (Challenge Fic for FMABB16)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

By the time the sun had gone down, Gluttony began to notice that Lust had become visibly upset. Her fingers impatiently tapped against the side of her dress as she narrowed her eyes towards the window, watching every move coming from outside. Sooner or later they would have to leave this modest café, knowing that most businesses tend to close early in this small town

If Envy had been here when he was supposed to then they wouldn't be having this little problem right now. "Lust," Gluttony whined, trying to recapture his companion's attention. "Where's Envy?"

A small sigh left her lips as she slowly took her gaze off of the outside world. The anger in her eyes had fled from her completely and became replaced with a mix of exhaustion and frustration. "Not here," she mumbled, pushing the last of her barely touched cake towards him. "I'll give him another ten minutes, otherwise we're leaving."

A toothy grin met the larger homunculus's face before he pushed the treat into his awaiting mouth, consuming the plate and fork along with it. She rolled her eyes a bit, both at him and their absent comrade. In all honesty, she almost hoped that he didn't show up at all. Since being born, she had found being around Envy to be a rather . . . complicated experience. Sometimes he was irritated, not necessarily by her, and spent a long time making not only his mood worse but hers as well. Sometimes he was gleefully malicious, sometimes she found him somewhat tolerable. Other times he was just plain annoying, acting as if he was younger and more immature than her.

In the end it was probably for the best that he did show up. If they left and were gone by the time that he did show up then Envy wasn't going to be the only person that would have a problem with her. Crossing her arms against her chest, Lust quickly surveyed the charming little cafe. The little number of people they saw around them had all congregated on the other side of the room, only occasionally glancing towards the two strangers.

"Lust! Lust!" The abrupt statement almost had made her flinch.

"Shush, Gluttony." The larger homunculus was oblivious to the curious and somewhat annoyed looks people began to give them, something that Lust was quick to catch. "What it is it?" She exclaimed, keeping her tone quieter than before.

Extending his arm towards the window, he pointed towards the opposite street all the while smiling gleefully. At first she saw nothing, just long shadows overlapping buildings and darkening the street with the occasional passerby. It wasn't until she looked closer did she notice something somewhat unusual compared to the past hour. One of the shadows from the adjacent alley was moving towards them, revealing itself to both homunculi before Lust could have time to guess for herself.

Envy didn't look totally different from his usual self; opting to only make minor changes in his attire in order to avoid unwanted attention. Given the direction of his gaze it seemed as if he had noticed them before they could notice him. As he approached them, marching across the nearly deserted street, the female homunculus began to notice that something else about him wasn't the same.

At first she noticed just how stiff he looked as his body mechanically forced himself to move in a normal way. Although he could change his appearance at will, Envy seemed unable to force the scowl away from his face. What neither of them could see, however, was the sharp look in his eyes. The type of look that had caused people coming near him to maneuver themselves in a way that kept them at a safe distance.

Taking her gaze away from the window, Lust looked down towards her lap and waited. After spending so much time feeling impatient, bored and frustrated, it felt like he had been there within the next second of seeing him. When she looked up at him Lust noted how little his expression had changed from being outside. The cool, arrogant smirk that graced his face most of the time was nowhere to be seen.

"Envy," Her voice was smooth and laced with a subtle amusement at his current state. "You know you're late." Any anger she had felt for him was undetectable while he was quite the opposite.

"I know." He spoke in a low, strained tone causing Lust to a raise an eyebrow at him. "Move over, tubby." Gluttony was quick to listen, despite his small mind. For a brief moment Lust almost felt empathetic for her larger comrade. Envy always seemed to scare Gluttony more than her, something that seemed very obvious in that moment.

"Something bothering you?" The statement only caused the angered creases on his face to worsen; making him go from slightly annoyed to visibly pissed off.

"Just shut up!" He growled, trying to keep his volume under control. "What was the point of me even coming here anyways?! It's not like you're doing anything complicated." Ending with a huff, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from her, Gluttony and the window. Opting to stare at the beige wall like a brooding child.

She paused for a moment as a bemused smirk pulled at the edges of her lips, "In all honesty, Envy. I have no idea."

With an irritated moan he sank further into his seat, glaring at the younger homunculus. "This is pointless. She knows I have better things to do."

"Oh?" She edged closer to the table between them. "What sort of things would that be?"

"None of your business, that's what!" He hissed "just worry about completing your own mission."

Lust nodded simply before casting a quick glance towards Gluttony. For once she found herself shocked and relieved that he hadn't begun chewing on the table. "If what we're doing is simple then why did Dante send you here?"

"How the hell should I know!?"

Lust didn't say anything more. If there was one thing they both wanted, it was to get this day over with as quick as possible. Besides, she thought, it was better to wait for him to get over whatever he was angry about then to provoke him any farther. She had to admit that she was just a little bit curious about what had upset him this time. Although, the likelihood of Envy opening up to her was nearly impossible (he was Envy after all).

The very little time they spent sitting together in that café before leaving was nothing but uncomfortable silence. Something that continued even after beginning their next mission. All the while, Lust wondered what Dante had done to upset the elder homunculus.

. . .

The walk between the café and the train station had not been far. Then again, the town itself wasn't exactly a large place to begin with. With Gluttony trailing alongside her, making no noise other than the obvious thud of his footsteps, Lust paid no mind to their other comrade. If she had bothered to look behind herself then she would have seen that neither did he.

There was no doubt that his mood had not changed one bit. If one thing was for certain, Envy was not the type of homunculus that could just let things go. Lust, despite being so young, knew that very well. Heck, even Gluttony with all of his . . . shortcomings knew it too. It was for that bit of knowledge that she didn't bother once to speak to him or even acknowledge him on their little walk.

Surrounded by the forced silence of his comrades and human-less streets, Envy paid little to no attention on reality. It wasn't until they passed from the darkness of the sleeping city and into the dull bright lights of the commotion less train station did Lust finally put an end to his inattentiveness.

Stopping quite suddenly, Lust reached out with one hand to grab at Gluttonys arm, stopping him as well. It was then that she finally had a good look at the green haired sin. If they had been walking around here during the crowded daytime there would have been a number of humans attempting to avoid being within ten feet of him. With a permanent scowl etched upon his features, Envy looked ready to snap.

This would have concerned Lust if she actually feared him.

"Envy." Before he could look up at the utterance of his name, a small piece of paper found its way into the palm of his hands.

Lust had already walked off past him by the time he realized that she had only given him his ticket. Judging by the faster pace of her strides and the unforgiving way she handed him the paper, Envy guessed that Lust had said his name more times than he heard.

Whether that was the case or not, Envy didn't really care. It wasn't his fault that he was distracted. Lust would understand if she knew anything about what had happened earlier this morning.

He could still hear her voice, ringing over and over with each moment spent adhering to her orders. God how he hated the way Dante sounded. It was times like these where it felt as if Envy hated her almost as much as Hoenhiem.

. . .

"Calm down Envy, there's no need to make a scene." Dante's statement had little effect on said homunculus as another object smashed against her study's walls.

"Shut up," he spat, pacing around the perimeter to the room. "You knew about this and you didn't say anything!"

Sighing, the older woman narrowed her gaze towards him. "If I had known while he was still there, then rest assured, I would have told you." Whether or not she was telling the truth didn't seem to matter to the homunculus. Since the moment the words had come out of her mouth regarding a certain alchemist he had become completely unreasonable. "You think I would just sit still while he played house with someone else."

He didn't respond to that "How did you find out?"

"Oh you know, a few rumors here and there go a long way." It was obvious how vague she was being. "I just wish they had gotten to me sooner."

Gritting his teeth, Envy finally stopped to stand before her desk. "Tell me where they are!"

Raising an eyebrow at him, Dante turned her head towards the window on the left side of the room. "I already told you that he left them a years ago." Any hurt she felt from this more recent news was only detected in the tone of her voice. "If you're looking for your father then you—"

"I know, I know!" His entire body edged closer towards her, so much so that the desk began to painfully press up against him. "I want to know where they are."

She smirked a bit, despite the present situation. "You're going to have to be a little more specific."

There was something oddly . . . pleasing about the way Envy glared at her. The way he too was hurt and enraged by this. "His sons," to Dante he might as well have chocked those words out. "Tell me where they are."

She didn't respond immediately, for a few moments she just stared at him. As if she was contemplating what he was asking. "No." She answered plainly.

"No?!"

"You have more important things to worry about than them." Standing up she began to move towards the door. "The last thing I need is for you to get sidetracked."

"More important things? Have you forgotten the sole reason why I've spent the entirety of the past four hundred years working for you?"

"Complain all you want, I'm not going to tell you where they are."

With a growl, Envy stomped his way towards the exit, pushing past his master in the process. He glanced over his shoulder at her as his hands connected with the handle. "This isn't over Dante!"

She smiled at him, "Of course it's not."

. . .

It was better that things were silent, he thought, rubbing at the creases on his temple. At least Lust was smart enough to give him that much. Though it wasn't as if chatting was the type of pastime she regularly engaged in. Nor was it Gluttonys'.

By the time he had boarded into the train car, Lust and Gluttony had already found their seats. With so much space and no one on board to stare, Lust was able to get her own spot without having to be directly next to the much larger homunculus. Gluttony, however, didn't stray too far from her. He looked rather uncomfortable in the adjacent seat to Lust, Envy guessed the lack of food and strict orders not to eat anything around him was already having an effect.

Wanting to make sure that he didn't have to hear a word come from either of the two, Envy quickly took his place in a slightly darker corner of the train car. With at least four or five rows between he was sure he would be able to glower in silence. Something he had spent the entire day doing with little interruption.

With Dante, Hoenhiem, and two little boys plaguing his thoughts, Envy failed to notice Lust stare at him with cold and curious eyes. He also failed to notice her get up from her spot and exit the car as Gluttony whined at her lack of presence. It wasn't till after she came back, patted her companion on the head reassuringly and sit down directly in front of the elder homunculus did Envy finally notice her.

He raised a questionable eyebrow at her presence, waiting for her to say whatever she obviously wanted to say. With her lips lying plainly on her face, neither curling up or down, Lust looked rather bored and unmoving. She only looked at him for a few seconds after taking her seat before moving her gaze to look out the window.

Narrowing his eyes at Lusts strange behavior, Envy resolved to keep the silence up despite wanting to tell her to go away (not like she would care about his preferences though). Eventually he looked away as well, thoughts of her slipped out of his mind quite easily as he returned to his previous reflections.

As much as he lamented about Dantes refusal and this new information on Hoenhiem, Envy recalled how little to nothing he knew about his sons. Didn't know what they looked like, what they sounded like, or even what they acted like. Asking about them was the last thing on his mind when he was with Dante.

The only thing Envy knew about the two boys was that he hated them.

Without ever even meeting them, Envy had already hated them. Hated them for existing. Hated them for being loved. Hated them for being Human. More importantly, he hated them for being his.

It wasn't until hours after learning about them, leaving Dante's, and finding Lust did Envy realize he hated them for an entirely new reason. Sitting on a deserted train car next to Gluttony, this new realization came rather suddenly. He hadn't been paying attention to anything, not the scene outside or the lack of one inside. In a way Envy had been trying to not think at all, opting to spend the ride in a dreamless state.

Unfortunately after an hour and half, this never happened. Exhausted from such a tiring day and with nothing important going on around him, slowly he found his eyes dropping to a close.

Too many thoughts and emotions bubbled in his head. It even got to the point where he was ready to start a fight between him and Lust, one that would get him nowhere. Besides, it wasn't her that was the problem. He wanted to see Dante, wanted to push the matter further than he had before. It didn't matter what she threatened or told him, he wouldn't leave until he knew everything about these two boys. Most importantly their location.

More than seeing Dante, Envy wanted those boys. Wanted to see them not happy like he imagined them in his mind. Without even knowing what they looked like, he had already formulated a fictional synopsis of them built on his spite. What he saw were two little boys who looked exactly like their father. Two little boys with smiles on their faces and innocent minds. Two little boys with the perfect mother and a wonderful, quite life. Two little boys who knew nothing of their father's sins. Two little boys who had no clue that they were born hated just as much as they were loved.

Envy saw them as the embodiments of everything he wasn't, right down to his appearance. They were perfect, they were loving, and they were his.

His, he thought.

It was at that moment, right then and there, that Envy realized he hated them for making him remember.


	2. Chapter 2

"Stop staring William, it's rude."

The lights began to grow to a more reasonable glow as the world around him began to materialize into actual shapes and figures. They started out as globs of color, like paint strokes. Within a few moments these globs started to grow more and more real, stopping once the scene around him seemed almost completely real. As if he wasn't looking straight at a memory.

"I wasn't staring mother." Envy blinked, or at least thought he blinked. His line of vision had been shifted away from the source of the noise before it had time to form into a proper person. Although, judging by the tone and the words that response that had followed, Envy already knew who had first spoke. The only thing he could see right now was the crumbled paper of a book opened within his palms. Palms he couldn't seem to feel.

"Do you have anything better to do then watch me work?" Her tone was snappier than usual, something she didn't show very often back in these days.

His line of vision turned back towards her words. Instead of a book he saw a woman, a woman sitting in an open study. She was young, or at least younger looking than who she was currently. In the body of a short, slightly curled haired brunette within her mid-thirties, Dante almost looked normal for once. As if she wasn't batshit insane.

"Yes, plenty of things, one of which I'm doing now." The pages of his book flipped up quite suddenly as the hands below him flapped it with an obvious cheekiness.

Her eyes narrowed at him only for a few moments, it never took her long to get her point across.

Without even looking down, the book in his numb hands was closed shut. As evident from the loud sound it made from under him. "If my company bothers you so much then I'll be happy to go." The voice coming from him was deeper, the complete opposite of his preferred feminine voice.

"Do what you want just don't bother your father." Dante glanced up at him from her work. As he got closer he could make out the bags and lines under her eyes. He guessed her age was beginning to catch up with her. "He's working with some unstable chemicals and he doesn't want anyone near it."

His head bobbed up and down, making him believe he was nodding at her. "I understand."

She gave him a slight, genuine smile. Seeing her look that way almost freaked him out. "Good boy." For a moment Envy wondered if he, or rather William, was smiling back.

Luckily for Envy, he didn't have to be in her presence for too long. Just as quickly as Dante had appeared, reminding him of a history between them he rather forget, she was gone. Or at least gone in the sense that he no longer had to look at her once he turned towards the door.

No words passed between them as he slipped out of the room and into the dull, crème colored hall. It was strange to see how little had changed between the four hundred years since Hohenheim had left. With so much time on her hands, one would have guessed that Dante would at least try to redecorate.

For a few moments William simply stood there, only moving to brush the strands of golden hair from his face. Without much to do in a house of only three people, studying seemed to be the only thing he could to occupy his time. Envy knew well that no one lived this far out in his current time period, let alone back in the fourteenth century.

While he was unable to read William's thoughts, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the basic gist of it. As a young teenager forced into isolation with only his parents to talk to on a somewhat daily basis, it was quite obvious to understand how bored he really was.

Envy knew that William's parents believed him to be the perfect son. The type of son that enjoyed learning and strived to be just as great as them. But he knew better, even if he wasn't William he still saw a lot from his own personal eyes. Enough to know that perfect was not the type of word he would use to describe him.

Shifting his stance around, William's gaze went back and forth between the ends of the hallways. Carefully he stepped forward and turned his body left. Bored and fed up with this memory, Envy watched himself begin to finally move into a steady walking pace.

Wherever William was headed, Envy didn't really know or care. The quicker this memory ended the quicker he could move onto more important things then the visons of some young, entitled, teenager.

Important . . . the word echoed around a bit in his head. If he hadn't been viewing things from the body of another person, Envy would have scoffed at himself. His mission outside of this dream was anything but important. The only thing important about it was that Dante believed it to be a good way to distract him from the only thing that truly mattered.

These halls William walked through were nothing of interest to him. Both in life and death Envy had seen this place close for what felt like a million times. There was really only a few places left in this house that held any significance to him anymore. Places that had been purposely altered to destroy any trace of the past. It was only fitting that William stopped directly in front of one of those places.

The door in front of him opened without hesitation, letting in a new wave of reminders sweep through his head. The numbness that had overtook Envy entirely subsided only slightly. A dull ache now pulsed throughout his being as William forcibly pulled him into _his_ room.

Cramped would hardly be the word anyone would use to describe this place. Most boys his age shared rooms a quarter of this size with their siblings. Crumbled papers overflowed out of waste baskets while books could be found opened at every corner of the room. Despite all that surrounded him, the various items that connected Envy to many of Williams's memories, only one thing captured his attention.

A full length mirror cast a reflection of his current self into the edge of his gaze. The dull pain he had been ignoring intensified at the sight, stinging and burning with no sign of clearing up. Golden locks were easily spotted flowing freely from his head and down to his back. While Williams face was not easily focused on, Envy could clearly make out the shape and bored expression. Despite this, there was a certain liveliness to him that Envy didn't possess in his homunculus form.

With a lack of mature looking features and shortness in height, Envy guessed he couldn't be much older than fourteen in this memory. Whether this was true or not, he never got to figure it out. The moment his golden eyes locked with Envys' gaze, the world around him instantly lost its color and faded back to the endless black that had greeted him at the beginning.

. . .

As quickly as it had started, the brief period of remembrance, it ended. Envy's eyes snapped wide open. To the average person he may have looked as if he had simply awoken from a rather disturbing dream. But he was a homunculus and homunculi don't dream, only remember.

"Envy?" Lust was the first thing he saw. The empty train car was the second.

He didn't respond at first, choosing to survey the scene instead. There wasn't much of a difference from before that . . . moment. The only real difference was were Lust currently was. Before, he had briefly seen her sitting across from him. She had been staring at the window with her legs crossed and her hands neatly folded in her lap, looking rather bored. He didn't blame her though. Being who they were they usually packed light and didn't bring things like books to keep them entertained.

Now she was standing up, bending over slightly to look at him with perplexed eyes. It was unusual to catch him so off guard. Behind her the entire car looked empty, if there was people behind him than he guessed they must have been asleep or unobservant. In the corner of his eye he could see Gluttony not too far off in the seats parallel to them. His eyes were closed, hopefully asleep. If he had been awake then he might have started chewing impatiently on the seats.

Realizing that Lust was still standing over him, Envy cleared his face of any confusion and gave Lust a cold stare. "What are you doing?"

With his response she took a few steps back and straightened herself out. "Nothing," she hesitated. "You seemed off." He almost swore he could detect a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'm fine." He lied and looked away from her. "Mind your own damn business anyway."

Lust didn't say anything after that.

. . .

A shooting pain seared from his eyes and into the core of his head as a feeling of panic spread across from him. Envys' eyes had only closed for a moment, just a bit longer than a blink. Now for some reason he couldn't figure out how to open them again.

It was only when he realized that he was once again sucked into another memory that his eye lids decided to open again. This time to a much different scene then the one that had been displayed less than a moment ago. A group of overgrown trees and ripe green leaves bundled together and overwhelmed his senses. Above him, a near perfect blue sky reflected a blinding amount of sunlight on top of Williams glossy hair.

It was nice out. An obvious contrast from the overcast and drizzling weather that had been plaguing him in Central. Given how close the last memory was, Envy didn't expect to be sucked in again so soon. Throughout his life memories had come and gone in short little bursts that became less frequent with age.

Although the little dirt path before wasn't as familiar as Dante's home, it was enough to help him recognize just where he was among the forest. If his calculations were correct then it wouldn't be long before William found himself in the nearest town, or rather village at this point in time. The godawful slow pace that seemed ever present in this teenager wasn't exactly proving that statement though.

It was almost funny that William, in his memories, seemed to think he had all the time in the world to be somewhere. Always walking around the house with nowhere to be or simply observing his parents with faint curiosity. It both amused and annoyed Envy.

Watching nothing didn't seem to last for long. Slowly but surely the trees around him disappeared as civilization came into view. There were a few small houses that were evenly spaced away from each other. Most of them had some sort of small patch of plant life that they were cultivating and behind them laid even more fields to tend to. In the not so far off distance he could see the amount of homes and buildings getting closer together. A large building in particular, one he guessed to be a church, was obvious among the crowd.

From where he stood, Envy could even make out the faint outline of other people. When was the last time that one of Williams memories had more than his parents in them? Dante and Hohenheim enjoyed their pleasant existence together, even if it was only for a little while, and if they did go out it was unlikely she would want to bring her son with them.

With each step taken towards the little, clustered village, it became apparent what Williams's purpose truly was. Lines of people all seemed to move in the same direction, each one of them dressed slightly nicer than people of the time usually did on a regular basis. It was then that Envy realized that he, in the body of William, was being forcibly taken to church.

How wonderful.

Oh how excited he was to spend god knows how long sitting through what could be a two hour sermon. Other than the obvious painful feelings, another reason for hating these memories was the lack of autonomy over his limbs and senses.

Unfortunately for him, there was no way of ever changing a memory.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to start of this chapter by thanking Nerieners for making the cover for this story. I can't believe how much was put into it and it just looks beyond Awesome!

Also thank you for all that have Reviewed and Favorited this story!

If one thing was for sure, he didn't miss the old religion. Actually, he didn't miss anything from back in those days. Sitting there, pinned down to the memory of William, Envy truly felt that this was the dullest thing he had ever witnessed. How anyone chose to go to church on their own free will was beyond him.

People back then were so much more solemn looking when it came to their religion. Rows of stiff-clothed people dressed in mainly dull colors sat in their pews with their backs mimicking the very boards they rested against. The only real color he could see in this grey shaded room came from the stain glass windows above them. While Williams's eyes stayed glued on the preacher, captivated, Envy could still see different hues of blue, pink, red and purple reflect down on top of the oblivious church-goers.

The priest's voice echoed in a slight booming tone as the crowd repeated his words in an emotionless tone. He hadn't been paying attention for the past hour, effectively blocking out concerned words of salvation. Only now when the only sound left was a faint echo did Envy feel anything other than boredom.

There was a large shuffling sound amongst the pews and slowly one by one the people stood up. It came as a relief when he realized that his own body began to move out of the pews as well. Moving into the middle of the walkway, with what he felt like was the entire town in attendance, it was hard to see the exit among the sea of heads.

At one point it had felt that he had been engulfed by the crowd, only later being spat out once he they had all safely made outside into the fresh morning air. Part of Envy wondered if there was really any point to this particular memory. If there wasn't then it wouldn't be the first time he was forced to watch boring and tedious little snippets of William's life. Although it was a very rare occurrence, seeing as usual day to day things tended to be forgotten even by the people who actually witnessed them.

"Excuse me, sir" a quick light tap on William's shoulder had him rotating swiftly around to come face to face with a young women no older than fifteen "You left this back there." He briefly looked down from her pale, narrow face to her hands that held out a familiar pocket book.

"Oh!" With no hesitation he snatched up the book into his hands and reset his gaze onto her face. "Thank you . . ." Trailing off, it was apparent that this girl was unfamiliar to him. Then again, it wasn't as if had many friends from the town. If that had been the case, Envy would have seen more than a handful of memories from outside of his parents' home.

She looked strangely at him for a moment, as if she was unsure of what he was doing. Her eyes widened slightly in embarrassment when she finally realized that the problem was her, not him. "Sorry, my names Annie if you were wondering."

"I'm William," He spoke with a charming, familiar smile "are you from out of town?"

Nodding vigorously, she began to take a few steps away "I'm staying with my Uncle and cousins for the summer."

"I see," Drawing out the last word, he took a moment to really survey her. Given her plain dress, despite it being Sunday, and features he guessed she was in a much lower social status then he was. It was to be expected though, there weren't many people around who seemed to have as much wealth as his own parents.

Both William and Envy could tell that there was something she was attempting to say, something that was on her mind. It seemed, however, that whatever it was she was too nervous to ask. "Do you . . . live around here?" With a timid pause to scan his facial expression, the rest of her question was spoken almost too quickly for him to understand.

"Sort of," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "Close enough to walk here."

"Oh, okay." It was obvious that she was looking at his clothes. Nice, clean, and expensive unlike that of the others in the town.

Envy watched her face darken red under the gaze of the tall, blonde, teenager in front of her. She looked so uncomfortable but yet also strangely curious. "Do you like it here so far?"

Jumping slightly, Annie hesitated before nodding. "My cousins are very kind to me, I haven't felt homesick once" her lips moved softly upwards into a pleasing smile. "I've only seen very little of the town and area though, my family doesn't enjoy going out often."

"That's too bad," Envy swore this boy's voice just got a little deeper. "I, on the other hand, do."The homunculus wanted to roll his eyes at the direction this conversation was going.

"Oh?" She didn't seem like she was much for words, at least not in comparison to William. "I do too—walking around I mean. I've always enjoyed doing it with friends myself."

"Yeah," he hesitated "with friends."

"I—" Through the jumbled mass of people, an older woman appeared only to cut him off by clasping onto the young girls arm and effectively pulling her away from.

"I look away for one second and the next thing I know you're talking to some—"The woman cast a glance towards William as she marched them away, once her eyes locked with his own the look of disgust was replaced by that of pure shock, "him!"

Mouthing the word 'goodbye', William could only watch as the two of them moved out of sight. The older woman, presumably her Aunt, occasionally looking back at him while whispering things into Annie's ear.

. . .

. . .

"Envy, are you coming?" The sound of Lust's voice was almost reassuring. As much as he hated wasting time on this current task, at least hearing her was a good indicator that he was back in reality.

"Yeah, yeah." He complained, by the time he saw her, she had begun to make her way to the exit. Knowing that he would eventually be forced to follow.

There was a cracking sound in his neck as he sat up from his seat on the train. He must have spent a good two or three hours wedged up against the glass looking as if he was asleep. He guessed that in some ways he was.

He didn't linger long, wanting to get back into the swing of his normal life. Not the one that didn't technically belong to him in the first place. Hopefully these memories were just a fluke, nothing else.

It was rather early in the morning when they left the platform and headed outside. The sun had yet to come up and showed no signs of doing so for a few hours. It was usually better this way, when it was dark. If Envy didn't cause people to turn their heads then Gluttony surely would. The town they were in wasn't nearly as large as Central or East City but it still had a lot of urban aspects to it, especially in comparison to the rest of Amestris.

For a few moments they stood there outside of the train station. Gluttony looked restless as Envy waited impatiently for Lust to collect her thoughts on what to do next. It didn't look like much was open at this hour and as much as Envy wanted to get this all over with, even he knew that they would have to wait awhile before starting.

Running a hand through her hair, Lust slowly began to walk into the street. After looking in both directions, she once again stopped. "Envy?"

"Yeah." He grumbled.

"Could you get me a map?" Her left hand moved to point back towards the station.

Sighing heavily, as if he were a child, Envy complied. "Fine." He muttered before turning back around. As he slipped back inside, Gluttony moved to stand next to Lust. With a finger in his mouth, he watched the elder homunculus stomp away from him.

Looking sad, Gluttony cast a gaze towards the ground. "Don't let him upset you." Lust's voice had him staring back up in her direction. "Envy's just in a mood." She concluded bitterly.

. . .

The dull, artificial lighting above him, the very thing that was supposed to make things easier, only sought to give him a headache. Not to mention the effect the non-stop echoing of his steps among the concreate. At such a late hour, the entire place was even emptier then the previous station.

It was better that no one was around to see Envy angrily move around the nearly empty station, looking for some sort of foldable map. With hands bawled up by his side and a scowl plastered onto his features, Envy was literally one moment away from strangling Lust.

His mood did not clear up one bit, even when he did spot a few maps lying on closed ticket desk. Within a second he was already there with one of the maps in his clenched grip. Turning on his heel, Envy began to walk back to the exit.

Bored, irritated, and upset, he decided to take his sweet time in getting there. Making sure to leave Lust in the cold street for as long as possible. If getting her maps was the highlight of his responsibilities on this mission then god knows what the two of them would do without him.

"Fucking Dante." The simply statement that had made its way out of his thoughts and mouth reverberated in such a large and empty area. As much as he wanted to scream and rant about the entire affair, now wasn't not the best of times. All he could do was bit the inside of his mouth and clench the map harder.

"Do you see him?" Envy stopped in his tracks. That voice belonged to Lust.

"Uh-uh." Gluttony responded. He couldn't see them from where he was standing. Hidden in a dark corner, the two other Homunculi didn't notice their comrade as they walked away from the exit. "Lust, is Envy lost?"

She rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it." She stopped for a moment to survey the area. "He's just being difficult."

"Why?"

She hesitated and for a moment the entire area was silent. "I called our Master before we left the last station." Envy froze. "He's angry at her, not us."

"Did he upset Master?"

She shook her head. "Let's just say that she's withholding something that he wants and leave it at that."

He gave her a confused look. "Oh" he waited a second "what is it?"

There was a silence. "Just two little boys with the misfortune of having pissed off Envy with their existence" she laughed at the way it sounded "nothing that we'll ever have to worry about."

"Will Envy be okay though?"

"I don't know when he's going to get over this," she said with a sigh. "The quicker we get this over with the faster we get away from him."

"Oh okay," She smiled at his lack of curiosity on the two. "Do you think Envy will find them?"

Snickering, she responded. "I highly doubt it. They live in some hick town called Resembool, nothing ever goes on there so it's unlikely Envy will need to be anywhere near it."

Resembool. The name repeated itself in his mind over and over again. It was then that Envy realized how grateful he felt towards Lust for making him get the map.

Continuing off and away from his comrades, it didn't take the homunculus long to find the exit. Not once did he look back or question his decision as he slipped out the front of the building and into the dark streets. A renewed sense of energy sprung through his being as his lips twisted into a familiar sickening grin, something his face had not felt in a while.

Getting out of the main streets and into the alleyways was the first thing he did with this renewed sense of passion. The last thing he needed was for Lust to spot him in the open road. Once satisfied with his distance, he finally slowed down and allowed his mind to actually process a coherent plan.

The smirk on his face he realized, however, was short lived. For only after a few small steps, a familiar feeling washed over his body and told him that his plan would have to wait. Wanting so much to fight it, his fists collided into the side of a brick wall.

Immediately, as if someone had switched off a light, Envy found himself once again in the midst of somewhere dark.

. . .

With no moon outside to filter light in through the crevices of the drapes, William, or rather Envy, found himself clinging to the base of the candlestick. The scent of Carbon Dioxide wafted around the air and mixed with traces of other chemical compounds that he was rather familiar with. Why he smelt chemicals was a bit strange, seeing as he couldn't see or hear anything going on.

Now that he thought of it, Envy wasn't quite sure where William was taking him at this time of night. Hopefully it wasn't for something as insignificant as going to the bathroom or getting a glass of water. It certainly wouldn't be the first time these memories did nothing more than waste his time.

It wasn't until he rounded a corner did he see another light source. Candle light from behind a door came overflowing through the cracks and helped illuminate the solemnly decorated hallway. Despite how long it had been since he had experienced these types of memories, Envy had a good feeling as to what was behind there.

Like a windup toy, William marched his way closer and closer to his destination. Even as he began getting closer, Envy could still not here anything. Not a murmur, tapping of feat against the floor, or even the wind. All was silent. Before he knew it William had stopped in front of the door. Any closer and his nose would be pressed against the wood. For a moment he did nothing but stare causing Envy to wonder what the hell was going through this kids mind right now.

Slowly and eerily, he turned to press his ear against the crack between the wall and the door. The nothingness that had surrounded him before slowly began to fade. With both hands holding the light a safe but close distance away and his ear against the opening, neither of them felt all that alone in this house.

It wasn't much at first. The faint sound of scribbles, light ones, against paper. Within a few moments it was quickly followed by a scratchy cough. That particular sound must had made William flinch for Envy felt himself move suddenly and very slightly.

He stood like that for quite some time. Staring into the candle light while listening on random little noises that only indicated that someone was in there. Because of this Envy quickly grew bored with the vision and waited for it to finally end.

His line of sight shifted again without him realizing it. One moment he was looking down at the candlestick cupped tightly in his left hand, the next he was staring down at the doorknob as his other hand latched itself onto it. Finally, he thought impatiently, not caring one bit whether this door continued the memory or finally ended it. Anything was better than being forced to stare at a flickering light for what felt like ages.

Opening rather suddenly, Envy was greeted with an actual room. Any frustrations over continuing the memory seemed to fade almost instantly. A feeling of intense anger and pain began to cover his entire being.

There he was, Hohenheim of light, his creator and father (as much as he hated to admit it). He stood over a table covered in a few glass vials, some overturned, and a multitude of papers. The room itself wasn't big, nor was it that bright. Most of the light sources had been concentrated in that one area where Hohenheim worked, making the corners of the room seem almost dark.

"William," the low voice of his father came almost as a surprise to the homunculus. "What are you doing up so late?" It dawned on him that it had been a long time since he had replayed any memories of Williams's life. It felt so strange hearing him speak again in a tone that almost made Envy feel . . . wanted.

"I heard a noise." He stated simply. Envy almost wanted to roll his eyes at the response. Given the height and the sound of his voice, William had to have been at least fourteen at this time. Was he really coming to his father because he heard something that made him scared?

"Oh really?" The quill in his hands fell lightly from his grip and onto the papers. "What kind of noise?"

He didn't respond at first. As Envy waited, he began to inspect Hohenheim's expression. The concern was obvious, of course, most usually cared for their children's well-being. Under that, however, was something else. A flash of fear, maybe? Whatever it was, he (or rather William) certainly hadn't noticed it the first time.

"I heard screaming father."

There was a pause. "Screaming . . . what do you mean?"

Part of William wanted to apologize and blame it on a bad dream before heading back to bed. Pretending that what he heard was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. "I just . . . heard people screaming." He looked down towards his feet. "It sounded like they were in a lot of pain."

Hohenheim briefly glanced towards a small box on the table before looking back towards his son. "Surely you must have been dreaming." He said with a barely reassuring smile. "Your mothers asleep and I'm right here."

"But," with one look at his father, his protest died down in his throat. ". . . I guess you're right."

His father smiled at him.

Then everything went dark again.


	4. Chapter 4

Never before in her entire life as a homunculus did Lust ever feel so much anger. Being the type of woman that she was, she always prided herself in being calm and collected during a mission. That demeanor meant nothing anymore as even Gluttony found himself frightened by her sharp strides and piercing gaze.

It was five o'clock in the morning and Envy was nowhere to be found. After the first half hour since seeing him, Lust realized that finding a map had been the last thing on his mind. Now, after going through the city as much as possible, she was left with only one choice: tell Dante. Tell her that she and Gluttony had someone how managed to let Envy run away to god knows where.

"Lust," Gluttony mummed quietly "where's Envy?"

"I don't know," she growled. "I've searched this damn place twice and he's still missing." Stopping to lean against one of the buildings, Lust began to feel the effects of exhaustion mixed in with frustration. "I had always thought Envy was smarter than this. Surely he doesn't think Dante will let him go unpunished after deserting us."

Gluttony didn't want to answer that. The last thing he wanted to think of was the things his master would do, even if they weren't to him. In a way he liked Envy, at least when he wasn't like this.

"Don't look so sad," she said with a neutral tone "he deserves whatever he gets for putting us through this mess."

. . .

"Where's William?" At the voice of her lover, Dante slowly moved her gaze up to meet that of his. The book in hand slowly slipped out of her grasp and onto her lap.

"I'm not sure." She said plainly with a sly grin tugging at her lips. "Out for a walk maybe or studying in his room." Standing up from the velvet chair she began to make her way towards him. Mischief evident in her eyes. "Wherever he is I'm sure you can find him" without breaking eye contact, she reached behind him and shut the door ". . . later."

Without thinking, his hands began to move towards her waist as his expression began to match that of hers. He stopped, however, just as his fingertips brushed the softness of her dress. He came here for a reason and as much as he hated to admit it, this was not that reason.

Shaking his head he began to frown at her. "This is serious, Dante." Disappointed, she took a few steps away from him. "I need to have a talk with him."

"About what, exactly?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she slowly found herself back in her previous spot on the chair.

"About . . ." He hesitated, knowing full well what her reaction would be. "About our studies."

Any disappointment wiped off of her mouth completely as her lips pressed themselves into a straight, serious line. "We've done a lot of . . . studying over the years, darling." She narrowed her eyes towards him. "You're going to have to be a little more specific."

There was no avoiding this; he knew that. "Dante." He moved towards her, close enough to look deeply into her eyes and place a hand onto her shoulder. "I think it's time we told him about the stone."

If she had been shocked then she hid it rather well. "I thought we were going to wait until he was eighteen. What's changed?"

He didn't respond at first. "Do you ever hear it?"

Raising an eyebrow at him, she asked "hear what?"

"The stone." It was obvious that she had no clue of what he was talking about. Feeling somewhat ridiculous, he decided against ending the matter there. "I hear it sometimes." Sighing he continued, "And now William does too."

"You never told me you heard screaming coming from the stone," The hurt etched clearly on her face did a number on her lovers guilt. "I thought . . ." her tone quieted slightly to give it a hint of innocence and dejection "that you could tell me anything."

Tugging at his collar uncomfortably, Hohenheim took a second to collect his thoughts. "I'm sorry, at first I thought that it was just my imagination playing tricks on me." He looked down, "I had no clue that our son was hearing it too."

She thought it out for a moment. It wasn't as if their son was a great deal younger than they had hoped to reveal some of their more questionable discoveries. A little over the age of sixteen, William had already proven himself to be quite the capable alchemist. By no means was he dimwitted or immature.

"If you feel that it's time to tell him . . . then I shall have no objections." There was a pause as her lover smiled at her answer. "I am, however, curious." Blinking Hohenheim took a step closer. "Why is it that William can hear it but not me?"

It was obvious that he didn't have an answer. Hell, he didn't even have an answer for why an inanimate object could project sound in the first place. "I cannot say," there was a look of shame as his eyes stared down towards the floor. "I didn't think he would be connected to it." Dante's light hands reached and held reassuringly onto his clothed shoulders. Her expression could almost be described as pure in that moment, the concern for her lover hiding any evidence of twisted morals.

"Darling," she whispered in an airy tone. Slowly her hands caressed down the sides of his arms before intermingling with his own. Fingers stitched themselves together in a meshed up pattern as she brought both of their hands to rest delicately against her stomach. "He had only just been conceived at the time."

"He doesn't deserve to pay for my sins."

"Our sins," she corrected without any reluctance.

. . .

They were incompetent.

Absolutely useless when it came to the simplest of tasks. She expected little from Gluttony, of course. Lust's actions, though, were extremely disappointing. Most of all, however, Envy seemed to be the worst offender of the bunch.

"Apparently four-hundred years has taught you nothing." Alone in home, Dante had no words to describe the sheer anger she felt at the moment. As much as she wanted to have Pride take care of this, he seemed rather busy at the moment. The fuhrer of Amestris had better things to do than tracking down Envy anyway.

Besides, if her suspicions were correct then it was rather obvious where he might be. The problem with that, however, was the lasting implications that presented. If he knew where his sons where then surely he wouldn't stop at just one try. If one thing was for certain, Dante would make sure Envy would never dream of stepping foot near Resembool after he was found.

Taking a walk through her little garden, no one would have suspected the older women to be thinking of such vile thoughts. Then again, no one really knew how old she actually was. After so many years she had been a rather decent actor regarding her outward expressions.

Hopefully this time, she thought, the other two wont dare fail her. Everyone who worked for her knew that she was not the type of woman to tolerate failure.

. . .

William could tell there was something up.

His father had seemed rather distant in the past couple days. His mother wasn't all that social to him either, now that he thought about it. If he had done something wrong then surely they would have discussed it with him and not just flat out avoid him. There was always the possibility that it had nothing to do with him though. Maybe his father meant no ill will with this behavior.

After a few days of silence, he did indeed get his answer.

Dinner had been rather quiet that particular August night. Mother and Father had arrived to the table later than him, something they had never done before. They didn't say much, only mumbling a near inaudible 'amen' at the end of grace. Feeling dejected, William tried to scarf down the meal as soon as possible. Getting out of this uncomfortable situation was his main priority.

The fork grasped so tightly in his hand nearly fell back onto the plate as his mother made a sound of disgust. "Where's your table manners William?" Hesitantly, golden eyes looked up to see his mothers. "I thought we raised you better."

Looking down, it became clear that his attempts to leave only ended in a mess. His cheeks darkened lightly with embarrassment as his shirt resembled that of a messy toddler. "Sorry, mother." Looking like a downtrodden puppy, he made quick work of getting anything he could off with a dry napkin.

"Is something wrong?" It was his father who spoke this time.

Feeling somewhat bold, he responded with "I could ask you the same thing." There was flash of fear in his eyes after he said that, wondering if being so brash had crossed a line.

"You're right," Gasping at his fathers unexpected statement, the fork in his hand finally slipped out and dropped onto his plate with a screech; causing him to flinch.

"Pardon?" He asked with a slightly higher than normal volume.

"There is something wrong, William" his mother didn't look at him as she spoke.

There was silence and William felt his heart begin to speed up. His parents had never been like this before. Whatever worries they might have had in the past was something that never reached his attention. Now they up and decide that they want to tell him of their troubles! Something truly was wrong.

"Now's not the best time to talk about it." He could tell that his father was only delaying the conversation.

"On the contrary, I think it is." Dante nearly gasped as William looked pretty resolved in what he needed to do.

Neither of his parents said anything for a few minutes. Dante opted to glare at her son while Hohenheim looked away.

"William," he asked speaking lightly, "when you go out to the village, do people ever . . . talk about your mother and me?"

Staring at his father, even Envy knew the answer to this question. "Yes, sometimes." He hesitated a moment "They occasionally ask about you but they never discussed you in a negative way if that's what you're wondering." Part of that was a lie. They did talk about his parents and sometimes not even to his face.

"What sort of things do they tell you, exactly?"

Pausing, William briefly looked away from his parents and towards his plate. "Not much," he lied "just that you're Alchemists."

He wasn't fooling anyone, Hohenheim could see that. With a sigh, he looked straight as his son and realized that beating around the bush wasn't the best idea at the moment.

"There's something we need to tell you . . ."

Fading out to black, Envy never really got to see what his father wanted to tell him.


	5. Chapter 5

It took Envy a moment to realize that the memory had finished. The past hour had been a torrent of confusion as he struggled to keep himself checked in reality. If one thing was for certain, he needed to end this now. It was hard enough just knowing about the person was supposed to be, let alone spending most of his time living it.

The more his moments became more frequent, the more Envy was glad that he had chosen a less populated route to follow into the next town. Though it wasn't as if he passed out or anything when these type of things happened anymore. All he really did now when it happened was freeze up a bit. It was no different than the reaction they had to their human remains.

Still, it was taking far too long to reach his destination like this. It was already dawn and he had yet to see any sign of a town. In fact, the only man made thing around him was the worn, metal train tracks that guided his path. It would have been too risky to try and catch a different train at the previous town with Lust and Gluttony around.

Now he was stuck surrounded by tightly packed trees with only a couple yards of narrow space between him and the tracks. All he could really do was run as fast as he could, hoping that something was nearby, before another memory overtook him.

If this kept up then the first thing he would be greeted in Resembool would be malicious smirk of the very comrade he had left behind.

. . .

Damn it, Envy thought as his vision regained its sense of color. He could have sworn that it had only been twenty minutes since the last memory. This couldn't keep happening, it hadn't been this bad since the first ten years of his life. Unmoving and helpless, all Envy could do at the moment was stare move his gaze only slightly to see out of his peripheral vision.

The most obvious thing he could tell about where he was now was that he was on the floor, his legs stretched out before him with his arms laying limply on his lap. Part of William's golden blonde hair was blocking the top of his right eye, slowly it began to fall even further from atop of his face to the point of covering that section of his face completely.

Feeling progressively even more annoyed as William didn't even bother to push it away, Envy began to wonder if something was the matter with the boy. Having watched his memories for nearly four-hundred years, he found it unlikely that it was simply because Will was too lazy to bother.

Feeling numb in this dream like state, Envy found it strange when a sudden knock at the door had neither him nor William moving just the slightest bit. "Son," Envy wanted to gag at the concern in his father's light tone. "Can we talk?"

Envy counted the seconds that remained completely silent. It got to the point that he even began to make bets by the hundredth second on whether or not it would be William or his father that would break the silence. Maybe if he was lucky neither of them would and then he could get the hell out of this damn memory.

"I'm not doing it." Unable to see William's face, the only noticeable change he could tell from this end was that he had sat up a little more straight. "I just want you to know that."

"Your mother and I . . . you know we don't want to lose you."

A glossiness in his vision overcame him, somewhat blinding some of Envy's memory. "I know," his voice cracked, "I don't want to either." Hesitating, Envy was numb to the tears that now ran down William's cheeks, "But I'm not doing . . . that!"

"It's not as bad as you thi—"

"Don't." His hands moved to tangle themselves in his hair, "I don't want you to tell me that. It may be okay for you but it's certainly not okay for me!"

"You'd rather let me and your mother watch you die," his voice was much sterner now, raising itself to the volume of an irritated parent. "Do you want us to suffer that?"

Wanting to point out that they didn't need to continue being this way, that living a full life was just as wonderful as being immortal, he settled with "No, of course not."

"Then—"

"Then I'm going to find another way," he interjected. "Surely body-swapping isn't the only way to live forever."

There was a pause. "If it wasn't then neither of us would do it." While Envy couldn't feel the shock that ran up his spin, the slight jump of his limbs was evidence enough. "You must understand that there is no other way."

"Yes there is!" It was almost pathetic to watch a grown boy of at least sixteen act in such a childish way. So upset and unable to understand reality.

". . . Everything in this world has a cost." Gasping at the sudden change in his father's tone, William craned his neck slightly to hear through the door better. "If the price of immortality is my body for another's then so be it." Despite the coldness in his voice, Envy couldn't help but pick up on the twinge of guilt. A guilt that would eventually skyrocket with each mistake he would continue to make. "There a far worse things you could lose for a prolonged life."

"Stop," he chocked. Envy's vision blurred as William began to shakily stand up. For a moment he was even convinced that this memory was coming to an end but it became painfully obvious that it was only the tears that clouded his vision.

Without even letting his father say another word, the golden hair boy sprinted his way across the room. Envy only heard a loud knock from the door before William pried open his bedroom window and hurdled the both of them out onto the yard. The homunculus almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. Hohenheims son, the perfect child, was running away.

. . .

As much as Envy hated to admit, he was spending far more time running in memory then in real life. He was also a bit surprised at how long William was actually keeping this all up. He was almost certain the boy would have ran back by now, begging for forgiveness. If he did then maybe that would be the last thing to happen for this memory to end. It was tiring to watch this bratty teen run around this god forsaken forest.

He didn't though, much to Envy's chagrin. In fact, it was only when the trees faded away and people began to replace them, did he finally stop. Letting out a strangled sigh, the boy collapsed down onto the ground, pressing his back uncomfortably against a rooted out stump.

In the horizon, from where they sat, the two could barely see anything beyond the scattered rows of farm houses. The small populated village that lied beyond here was nothing more than a slightly darker shade of black amongst the barely lit sky. Slowly but surely candles began to become lit within the unclean windows as William attempted to regain his breath.

He would have to go back now, it would be too dark to see his way soon if things kept up. A strange feeling welled up in his stomach, a pain that Envy could not detect, as William thought about facing his father again. Would he be angry? What would his mother say about this? And most importantly, what was the point of doing all this if he had no intention of leaving for good?

Unable to see the boy dig his nails further into the dirt and clench up with each passing moment, Envy became the first of them to notice the peculiar person coming into their direction. At first they just looked like a blob, nothing they wore seemed to stand out amongst the darkening sky. By the time their hair color became visible, a color not so different from the boys, William finally noticed their presence. Before clearing the leftover tears from his face, he stood up rather quickly in attention. The last thing he needed was someone asking about what had happened.

They were only twenty feet away from each other when Envy began to realize that this person wasn't so unfamiliar to either of them.

"Is that you William?" Hearing the soft tone, the golden haired boy looked away.

"Yes . . . it's me." He coughed out, "and you're Annie right?"

She was close now, close enough to see her smile. "I'm glad you remembered my name after so many weeks."

He wanted to say of course. Wanted to tell her that it was hard to forget the very few people that had bothered to talk to him in town. "There's not many people are age around here, if you haven't noticed." Feeling a bit of confidence surge into himself and attempting to regain some composure, William continued. "Let alone beautiful girls like you."

Envy wanted to laugh at the way she rolled her eyes at his failure of a compliment. "Don't let my Aunt hear you say things like that." She watched the smile drop from his face as the only brief memory of the woman came into mind. "Is something wrong?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because you're here," she remarked, crossing her arms together against her chest.

Scoffing at the question, William faked a look of annoyance. "Why is that a problem? It's not like I'm not allowed to be here."

Pausing, Annie looked towards the ground. "My uncle says you only come here on Sundays."

"How would he know? It's not like he follows me from my house."

"It's true though, isn't it?" He felt his throat tighten up suddenly, as if her words were strangling him with the brown ribbon in her hair. "When you do come, you don't stay very long."

"It's such a long walk," forcing something out of himself, Envy could actually feel the uncomfortable contortion of his lips into a disgruntled smile. "It would be tiring to do it every day."

"I like to walk, if you remember." Envy remembered, if William didn't. "You might like it more if you did it with your friends."

"They're too busy to do trivial things like that." Laughing at her, he brushed locks of Golden hair into his face rather than away.

"To busy doing what?"

Not existing, Envy thought with a sneer.

"You and I both know that very little people are age live here."

"So? What are you getting at?"

It was obvious her next sentence pained her, made her feel guiltier saying it then leaving the conversation blank. "These people, everyone regardless of age, only seem to know you because of your family."

He didn't hesitate to respond with this one. "My family is very prominent, if you haven't noticed, of course they know me because of my family."

"I said only because of your family." She might have yelled the word only with the way it left a ringing in his ears. "No one here knows you as a singular person, let alone a friend."

Annie's face began to contort in Envy's eyes as moisture built up and blocked his vison once again. "I h-have friends and I'm quite offended that you would suggest otherwise. Here I thought you were an actually decent person an—"

"I'm not saying these things to be mean, you should know that. The entire point of this conversation was to prove to that there is something wrong with you being here. If there wasn't you would be at home, with the people who do care for you outside of a name." The hair he had brushed into his face were pushed back as her left hand reached out to cup his shoulder.

Although the gesture left him a little dumbfounded, William continued to keep up his resolve. "You have no right to ask me such things especially if I truly don't have any friends. Feeling concern for another's feelings is something that only friends would do and we're acquaintances at best."

Giggling slightly, Annie shook him slightly. "That's not true, maybe I'm concerned because I want to be your friend and knowing of your problems would be a step closer to that goal."

Envy couldn't help but think there was something strange about watching someone say that to his face, or rather Williams face. Maybe it was the stupid memories that were starting to interfere with his sense of reality but for some reason he felt almost as if that was directed towards him.

. . . God how he needed to get out of this. He wasn't William, he would never be William and would never want to be William.

Sighing, the boy pushed her hand off his shoulder. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Beaming, Annie nodded vigorously. "Yes of course!"

"I—"

The lone 'I' was only followed by a muffled string of unclear words as Annie's face disappeared amongst the brief, familiar void.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been exactly two hours since the last memory and Envy was starting to get anxious. It was one thing to constantly freeze up with no one else around, another to do it in a well populated city. While the train station wasn't necessarily too deep into the heart of the urban center, it was almost noon and people were beginning to flood and block the streets.

Too suddenly stop, like a broken car in traffic, would bring too much attention to himself. Humans who had never met him before would crowd around the strange occurrence before coming to realization that something was wrong. Then, like the compassionate people they believe to be, someone would be calling down some sort of medical attention to help. Instead of waking up in a train car, he would then find himself on a stiff hospital bed.

Finally stepping foot into the station itself was both a reliving and not. While he was one step closer to the Elrics, he was also closer to Williams' memories. God how he hated feeling so week. So willing to succumb to the torture his father had forced upon him from birth. It made his hand tremor slightly as he took his ticket from the teller.

The relief that he so desperately wanted was only briefly achieved the moment he stepped onto the ground of his designated car and collapsed none to gracefully upon one of the barren seats. For a moment everything seemed okay as Envy realized just how close he was to ending this madness.

A madness that once again overtook him the moment he felt some resemblance of happiness.

. . .

The sun was near setting by the time he got to the little town known as Resembool. The first thing he noticed upon arriving was just how small it actually was. It wasn't as if he was expecting anything spacious, that would be too risky for Hohenheim anyway, but he didn't think it was going to be this backwoods. Why anyone would want to live here was beyond him.

The train station itself had been tiny and only he and a few others got off at this particular spot. Wanting nothing more than to be away from anyone, or rather everybody, who stared at the rather strangely dressed teenager, Envy made quick work of getting away from the area.

Once out of sight, his body was engulfed with a familiar glow. Within seconds he went from his 'cute' preferred form to that of something that blended a little bit better with the scenery. Now slightly taller and the body of a man who was closer to his actual age than his teenage form, Envy almost laughed at how simple he looked.

These were simple people, after all, from what he could tell. Just a small collection of farmers and families living in the middle of nowhere whose only real importance was to reproduce and die. With a place that was sparsely populated with unsuspecting people, it was no wonder that Hohenheim chose this place to hide.

For such a small place, searching around Resembool definitely was a much harder task then he thought. The only small children he had seen since arriving here where either the wrong age or gender. In accordance with this, none of them looked anywhere near what he imagined them to be. Despite the obvious body swapping done by Hohenheim, he had the distinct feeling that these little boys were going to look exactly like him. Two golden haired children with innocent smiles on their bright little faces.

Envy mentally gagged at the picture. They must have been his pride and joy, the perfect sons he had been waiting for. Certainly nothing like the abomination he left behind. Definitely not an androgynous black haired, purple eyed teenager that refused to wear his 'original' face. No, they were perfect. Perfect in every way imaginable. The sons Hohenheim believed he deserved.

"Excuse me, miss?" In an older, gruff voice he called out to the only visible person in sight. A woman in her late twenties walking between houses all the while reading a book absentmindedly. From where she stood on a slightly elevated patch of ground around a couple hundred feet away, her reaction to his statement was rather delayed.

Blinking, the book in her hand dropped to her sides as she made eye contact with the older gentlemen before her. "Can I help you," she asked in a low tone.

Smiling brightly, like a lion stalking its prey, he moved slightly closer to the unknown woman. "I was wondering if you could help me," she raised an eyebrow at him "You see, I'm looking for the Elric's?"

A sudden downtrodden expression met her face before she cast her gaze away from him. "I see, If you're hear for the funeral then I'm afraid you're a bit late," pointing west towards a series of houses, she continued. "The boys should be with Pinako at her house if you want to express your condolences."

"Pinako?"

She nodded, "She's an automail mechanic not too far from here, there'll be a sign in front of her house, you can't miss it."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"No problem, sir." With a saddened smile she turned away from him, going back to the contents of her book.

The smile that he had greeted her with grew even more to the point of looking just plain creepy rather than reassuring. She didn't see it though, too unobservant and absorbed in her book to care that the man walking away from her planned to destroy the lives of two innocent little boys.

Now if only he could find them.

"After spending four-hundred years working for me, I would have thought that finding two little boys would have been a walk in the park for you."

Oh god, he thought, what the hell is she doing here. There was no mistaking the familiar taunt in the old woman's tone for that of his master, his so called 'mother'. What she was doing all the way out here was beyond him, going out was definitely something she preferred not to do. Especially when she looked as old as she did now.

Turning sharply on his heel, Envy came face to face with the old woman. Only a few yards off, it shocked him to no end that she had been able to follow him for so long. Not only that but the very fact that she was so easily able to identify him made it seem like he was losing his touch after so long.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Dante." Switching to his preferred voice, he hid any evidence of his frustration or shock beneath the slightly mocking tone. "It feels like it's been over a century since you left your house."

With a soft chuckle, Dante remained unfazed by the rebellious homunculus. Having known her for so long, however, Envy knew that she was seething with anger. Literally only a few words away from dragging him back to Dublith herself. "I didn't want to send Pride to find you, he has more important things to do then look for you." Her tone matching that of his, she put an emphasis on the word 'important'.

"What about Lust and Gluttony, surely you could have sent them."

As if a switched had been flicked, an intense feeling of seriousness washed over Dante. "Seeing as they had already failed me once, I didn't wish to give them that chance again."

A sort of chill ran up his spine but her demeanor and subtle threats did little change his mind. Dante or no Dante, Envy was resolved in his mission. Whatever happened to him didn't seem to matter in the least. In the end, Dante could only punish him so much. Even if she hated to admit it, she couldn't possibly kill him. Nor could she hurt him nearly as much as his father had for these past four-hundred years.

"How did you know it was me?" The teasing in his voice stopped as well as the amusement that had been plastered onto his grinning face.

Smiling once again, she took a few steps closer towards the homunculus. "Please, I've known you long enough to see through your tricks, Envy."

He rolled his eyes before crossing his arms of over his chest, posing to weirdly for the older man he had chosen for the disguise. "I'm guessing you're here to stop me from destroying Hohenheim's perfect little children."

"More like prevent rather than stop," she hesitated. "Or at least I hope if you're willing to listen to reason rather than just barging on in and murdering children in cold blood."

His lips twisted upwards at the thought, "what's going to happen if you can't prevent me, huh?" Moving around the area, Envy looked as if he wanted to start a fight with the old woman. He knew her power, of course. Knew that she was the most capable person to destroy him if she wanted. That didn't stop him from taunting her of course. "How many times are you going to stop me before you lock me up with Greed?"

Despite his words Dante only continued to smile faintly at him. "Like I said, I'd rather it not have to come to that Envy." Pushing the shawl around her shoulders further up on her, Dante already looked pretty certain in the outcome. "You're one of my best and I'd hate to replace you after being with you for all this time."

Frowning, the homunculus quickly glanced behind himself towards the string of homes in the distance. Given how much time he spent looking, he was fairly certain that they were there. They just had to be. "You know I'm going to do this one way or another," growling, Envy began to take a couple steps back. "There is no stopping me or preventing me."

Not moving an inch, she asked "Would you risk it all just to kill his children when he still stays alive." His mouth twitched while her own began to brighten. "Besides, if he's still alive then what's to stop him from having even more children? So much more that the first two you killed will be meaningless to him."

"Shut up," he mumbled.

"Why, after a while they might be just as forgotten and meaningless as you."

With a crack, Envy's foot swung out to hit the only nearest thing: an older picket fence. The wood easily crumbled and fell apart as bits and pieces of it flew back onto the grassy earth before the. Balling his hands into fists, he realized how empty hitting the fence felt. The wood felt way too hallow, too fake. A tree might have been more relaxing, felt more stiff and full like a body.

Dust flew up from the dirt trail road as small pebbles and other debris where swept in the aftermath of his anger. His eyes frantically searched around for something larger, someone bigger, and anything that he could throw his frustrations onto. Much to dismay, the only thing around him were grass, dirt, fences, and Dante.

"Why do you even care what happens to these runts?!" Screaming, more rocks and dirt flew up into the air and in all directions except for hers. Dante almost wanted to laugh at the childish nature of his tantrum. "Shouldn't you want to kill them too along with their whore of a mother?!" A much larger rock came dangerously close to the right side of her head. "He left you too!"

She didn't saying anything for longest while, choosing to let the ground and Envy settle before replying. "If I wanted to hurt his new little wife then I'd be sad to hear that nature has already beaten me to it."

"What?"

Smirking, Dante peered down at him. "Trisha Elric is dead," she stated almost triumphantly. "She died of natural causes."

Snickering, the elder homunculus placed a hand on his hip. "Exactly how natural where these causes?"

"I would hope that you're not insinuating that I had something to do with her death," Unfazed by his assumption, Dante placed a hand over her heart. "I'm rather offended that you think I had anything to do with it."

Remembering the issue at hand, Envy narrowed his gaze at her. "You didn't answer my question?"

"Which one?"

"Why do you want to keep them alive, Dante?!" Growling, Envy felt himself relapsing back into his previous fit of anger. "Why are they so damn special that they get to live?"

"Hmm, that's a good question." Wrapping her arms around her body, Dante observed the ever increasing irritation. "As much as I dislike them, keeping them alive benefits me more than if they were dead."

"How?! Do you know what we could do to him if we killed them? The pain we could inflict!"

She shrugged, "Where's the fun in just simply killing them." Looking at her strangely, Dante chuckled. "If you want to kill them, fine. I just thought you might wanted to do something a little more . . . unique than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I just thought you would want to use this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone." Raising his eyebrow at her, his expression asked the old woman to continue. "I'm sure destroying his son's would definitely hurt you father but don't you want to do more than that."

"Hohenheim's not here," he stated firmly, "I can't kill him too." Pausing for a moment to think, the homunculus narrowed his gaze dangerously. "Unless you were lying about that as well."

"Of course not, I would have been here sooner if that was the case." She neglected to mention not telling him about if it was true. Hell, at this point she even wondered if telling him about the Elrics so soon was a bad idea. "You know, I've been told that they are quite like him."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm sure of it."

"Their Alchemy, I mean. It's unusual that children that young are so capable of it." The burning in his chest intensified at her words. Envy had assumed they would look like him, now apparently they are just as skilled as well.

"Go on," with a smile, Dante continued.

"There's no doubt in my mind that one day we will eventually find him, however, for now I want to use what he's left to our own advantage."

"You want to use them for the stone?" He interjected.

Nodding, the older woman found herself only steps away from the elder sin. Without even having to use her alchemy, she knew that this little fight had already been won. "He never got over making the stone, guilt began to consume as time went by to the point where he could no longer ignore," she chuckled. "Creating you only made things worse on him."

Growling, Envy gave her a dangerous look. One that she did not find intimidating in the least. "Dante . . ." He trailed off, as if the threat on his tongue had died down.

"Imagine how Hohenheim of light would feel if his only happiness left in this world were the very source of destruction he never wanted to see again."

"After that, once they've helped us with the stone, then would we kill them?"

"Yes, Envy. Then we would kill them."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe the end is finally here for my part of the challenge. It’s been quite a busy few months and I’m glad I at least was able to writing something good-ish ^,^’ 
> 
> This challenge has been really helpful with getting me out of my writers block (one that has lasted nearly two years 0,0). I’m definitely doing this again, especially if I get another set of awesome artists like nerieners and matchpapers 
> 
> For some clarification, the ending is meant to be smaller, erratic memories rather then the longer ones we’ve seen so far. Hope this all makes sense!

The realization that this complication in his life wasn’t over hit hard. The two boys were still alive, still haunting him. With no end in sight to these memories, the question of how long Envy could continue to live like this hung over his shoulders, dragging him down further into this false reality.

“You’re too forgiving.” The sound of Dante’s voice came before the scene around him could materialize. When it did it, however, neither one of Williams parents could be scene. In fact, the only thing he did see was that of a plain wall and a floor to match. “He knows better then to act in such a way.” Still only a voice, no body to go along with it. He darted his gaze back and forth between the boys peripheral vision with no such luck.

“This wasn’t exactly an easy thing to swallow.” Now Boeheim’s voice could be detected. A small shift of his head, however, showed that there was a reason no one could be found. Standing directly next to a slightly ajar door, William had a front row seat to their conversation.

Scoffing, he could hear Dante move about and cause the floors to creek. “I still don’t understand why he’s so upset. How many people in the world even get the chance to be immortal?”

“He’s so young, we just need to give him time to understand.”

“What’s there to understand?” A familiar coldness was in her voice, one Envy had grown to know. “He’s being a stubborn brat about this entire thing.”

“Trust me, I know I can convince him.”

“And if you don’t?” She paused, “if he insists on staying the way he is then I see no reason why we should bother trying to convince him otherwise.”

Gasping slightly, Hohenheim took a few steps away. “He is our son! Can you really live in this world knowing that we let him die?!”

She didn’t say anything.

. . .

Once more his vison blurred and for a moment Envy believed that he was coming back up to reality. However, as if there was a weight pulling him back down to William, another memory began to materialize right before him.

The first thing he saw was Hohenheim, or rather his reflection in the window.

“Father I’ve already given you my answer,” the book in William’s snapped shut with a frustrated sigh. “I’m not changing my mind on this.” 

The study they currently resided in showed the hours they had already put into research. Bookshelves were only half full as the rest of its contents where either lying on desks and tables or on the ground and out of their way. Overflowing trash bins spewed the excess contents everywhere within distance, creating piles of crumbled paper balls in random sections of the room. The dark spots and stained fingers from inkwells seemed to be in every area, including the floor and ceiling. 

“I understand that you don’t want to give up your form but I just want you to understand that you might not get everything you want,” he sighed “Your body is a small price to pay for immortality.”

“There is another way, father.” Placing the book onto the table in front of him, William rose up from his seat. “Mother likes my idea better anyways.”

Hohenheim wasn’t quite sure why Dante of all people would agree to such an idea, as his mother he always guessed that she would want her son to take the easiest way to immortality. “I just hope you would at least think about it before coming to a decision.”

“I’ve already told you,” he said with a smile “there’s no one else I want to be then me.” His father sighed, it was more like talking with a stubborn brick wall then with a child.

“Just try to keep it in mind.”

Shaking his head, letting the golden locks swish around Envy’s line of vison, he continued. “I won’t need to, mother already gave me a great idea.”

Blinking, Hohenheim took a step forward. “What kind of idea.”

The book in front of him was pushed forward with a prod of his finger, inviting the other man to look at the page Envy had not bothered or cared to glance at. “It’s truly ingenious, I can’t wait to try it out.”

Knowing far too well what he meant, the sin was more than happy when the vision began to fade.

. . .

The moment the vision began Envy’s gaze met that of a celling. Normally he would have thought this was the beginning of a new day but there were some obvious factors that completely refuted that idea. First of all, his vision was even blurry than before. He could tell that William’s eyes were glossy and strained. Secondly, he didn’t move at all from his spot. Minutes went by and still his eyes were forced to look up at a celling. Thirdly, this hadn’t been the first or even second time he had seen this memory. 

The room was nearly silent, the only real sound being the rise and fall of each labored breath. What William felt was certainly nothing that Envy could imagine at that moment. Without even moving an inch his heart was racing at an impossible speed. If he hadn’t been so weak he would have removed some of the covers but even that what do little to stop the sweat that trickled out of his skin and onto the sheets. What was worse, however, was the burning.

He didn’t want to look at the spots where his skin was on fire, he knew very well what little of it was left in those areas. Afraid that even turning on his side would cause more of his burning skin to peel, he just laid there and prayed that it would stop. What Envy was unware of was just how long he had stayed laying like this. How long since he had first felt the effects of pain.

“Son?” Spoken in a hoarse tone, Envy felt a wave of disgust and resentment wash over him. Unable to look at his father, William moaned in an attempt to say something to indicate his consciousness. 

Expecting to hear the heavy footsteps of his father coming closer towards him, William was surprised to hear nothing of the sort. There was a few moments of uncomfortable silence and before he knew it, Hohenheim had turned around and left the room. 

Leaving him alone in this miserable state.

. . .

He couldn’t remember much at this point. 

There were some flashes of light but that was it. Just a couple fleeting colors and some barely audible words. In all honesty, it actually felt as if he was dreaming. He couldn’t possibly be dreaming though, up until a few minute ago he was fully awake on board a train heading straight to his ‘brothers’. Then, in a blink of an eye, everything went pitch black. 

It took him a moment before he realized that these colors where merely the light trying to get through the narrow cracks in his eye lids. The words he heard though, the only sound amongst this strange memory, could only be detected as miserable. Some sort of gloomy, despair filled pleas that he couldn’t make out. 

After such a brief time, the lights and words ended. For a few minutes he heard and saw nothing. 

It wasn’t until after the fact that he realized that this mess of things before the darkness was just as much a memory as everything else. 

Finally, Envy realized that he come to the end of William’s memories.

. . .

Of the many things Envy didn’t know about Hohenheim that Dante did was the period between death and life (if you could call it that). Out of the years spent without him, the first and last day had been the most memorable.

It was sunny on the day after her son’s death, weirdly. Hohenheim wouldn’t have known though, he didn’t bother leaving the confines of the basement of the house. Dante was the only one who bothered going outside on such a day.

The day had started off on a sour note when she realized that her husband had never come to bed. For an hour she had laid there, believing that he had only left to go to the bathroom or check on something. She still believed it even when she grew bored and got up. In fact, she only stopped when he told later that evening. 

She actually didn’t really decide to leave the house until noon, feeling rather bored and indifferent. At first she wanted to find her lover and walk with him but decided against it before reaching the basement, realizing that he might have preferred some time alone. As much as she wanted to deny it, her lover’s reclusion into the depths of their home left Dante feeling absolutely miserable. 

Despite how she felt she still had a neutral face throughout the day. Something she was glad she did when she realized that she and her husband where not alone in these woods at the moment. 

“OH!” The sudden sound had the alchemist jump slightly, not sure from where it came from. Scanning the scene, Dante almost immediately locked eyes with a girl no older than nineteen standing at the base of the porch stairs. “Forgive me, ma’am.” The little girl looked down as her cheeks began to grow pink. 

Eyeing the girl, Dante asked, “What are you doing here?”

Flinching at the tone, the girl began to back away. “I—I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She narrowed her gaze at her, frightening the poor child even more than before. “You didn’t,” she stated simply with a cold demeanor. “I would very much like it if you could answer my question.”

“Oh … yeah,” absentmindedly, the girl continued to slowly step away from Dante and her home. “I just wanted to—to,” unable to find the right words, she pointed towards the porch steps. All sorts of flowers and other appropriate items had been left there, waiting for her to find. Given the amount, Dante guessed that this little girl wasn’t the only one who had come by today. “My family wanted me to leave these here as a way of expressing our condolences,” her eyes met the ground. “We thought you and your husband would prefer to be left alone.” 

“I didn’t know my son was so popular.”

With an awkward and rather forced smile, the girl looked down at her feet and away from the cold stare of the mistress of the house. “He was very kind a-and charming.”

Raising an eyebrow at the ever reddening cheeks of the other female, Dante laughed. “Yes … I’m sure he was very charming.”

With wide eyes and her mouth in the shape of an ‘o’, she exclaimed “I didn’t mean—”. Looking amused, the older woman shook her head at the other as an ever-present smirk tugged at her lips. “I … I,” looking away again, she took a deep breath. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for you lose.”

Nodding towards her, Dante signaled the girl to leave with a slight hand gesture. A suggestion the girl took without even thinking twice. 

. . .

Once the sun had set, Dante realized that she could no longer leave her lover to his sorrows. Being left alone was an awful thing on its own, the last thing she needed was to spend another night without him by her side. Besides, she told herself, William would have wanted his parents to move on.

Now if only her husband could realize that.

The journey from the brighter upstairs to the basement had taken longer than she expected. With stops at every corner that made her rethink this whole idea. She didn’t want to see him like this, didn’t want to see how badly the death of their only son affected them. At the same time she wanted to be there for him, seeing as he definitely needed her.

Maybe, she though, she could convince him that this wasn’t so bad. Yes they lost William, the boy they had become used to for almost eighteen years. However, at the same time there was many opportunity’s to have more children. This body was still young and fertile despite the years and with their swapping it would remain that way for a long time. 

. . .

Before Envy was unable to feel things like that, seeing and hearing had been the only senses that remained during these memories. Now he could feel everything and unfortunately ‘everything’ was not as pleasant as he wished. Being a homunculus, pain tended to last for only a few moments. Regardless of the severity of the injury, they tended to not feel the agonizing bulk of it.

Unfortunately what he felt now was relentless. A sharp, throbbing sensation pumped through every nerve and screamed. His vision was blurry, unable to truly make out the extent of the damage done upon him. Wherever he was it was obvious that everything was dark. The only thing that kept everything from being pitch black was a few sources of light that seemed like fuzzy orbs from his position. 

Envy couldn’t necessary hear anyone speaking at moment. It wasn’t silent though, not by a long shot. What he could make out was grunting and some heavy, labored breathing. To him, it sounded a lot like someone was slowly dying.

Dying … that word reverberated through him and suddenly it all made sense. The blurriness, the breathing, and the pain he shouldn’t be able to feel. This memory wasn’t like the rest, not at all. The visions he had been forced to watch over and over for the past four hundred years had belonged to William, the perfect son. 

This memory, however, belonged only to him. 

Through the huffs he began to hear something else. A tapping of sorts that became louder with each moment. It didn’t take him long to realize that the tapping was the sound of someone’s shoes on the ground. Someone he knew all too well. 

His heart began to beat fast as his vision made its way slowly upwards to come face to face with a mess of colors that seemed to resemble a person. The more he stared up the more the person’s image began to come together, making them easy to identify. What he saw completely ruined him. 

His father was standing right there, looking down on the mess of blood and guts he called a son. 

He could feel himself choking as his mutilated lungs prevented him from saying something understandable. It had been so long since this had happened but yet Envy knew everything that was about to happen, all in vivid detail. Now he would have to literally replay this, one of his worst memories, over as if it was all happening again. 

It was hard to read his face, given the darkness and the extreme pain. What he could make out was nothing short of horror. There was disappointment too, something that hurt Envy more than he wanted to admit. As hurt as he was he was also angry. Completely and utterly enraged. Here he was, his Father, staring down at him, his creation and was doing nothing. 

For the second time Envy was forced relive the pain, the pain of being born. The type of pain that could kill him if nothing was done. Maybe that’s what he secretly wanted, Envy thought bitterly, maybe part of Hohenheim just wanted him to die. After all, he was nothing more of a mistake and mockery of his real son’s memory. 

His vision started to blur again when Hohenheim began to kneel down towards him. It was then that Envy was thankful that this was finally going to end, that he didn’t have to been painfully reminded of the day his existence became the greatest disappointment and mistake of his father.

Before the total darkness his father reached out towards him. Spots of blood and chalk were obvious on his hand and sleeve. 

“William?”

All Envy could think of at that moment was the word ‘no’. 

. . .

It was obvious from the moment he shut his eyes and the world once again changed around him. There wasn’t blurred visions this time or memories that didn’t necessarily belong to him. Although this was also an early memory like the one before, it was memorable for the fact that it was the first time in his life that he wasn’t in agonizing pain. 

No longer in a dark room in the basement, Envy found himself sitting up in a much lighter guest room. The pleasant white wallpaper and open windows almost made this interaction look normal, or at least to someone else. Blonde hair blocked part of his left eye as he squinted to focus on the person sitting on his bedside.

“William?” Blinking, Envy waited for a response to Dante’s question. She looked a little different from when he last saw her. She was still stressed, even more than before, but her shorter height, brunette hair, and darker skin made him realize that she wasn’t completely the same person that watched her son die. 

“Huh?” That was the only thing that left his lips. 

She stared at him for a second. Chocolate brown narrowed slightly as they scrutinized the look alike in her son’s bed. At the time Envy thought she had been angry at him for such a weak response. This woman who he didn’t know looked at him with such cold, judgmental eyes. 

Then, as if nothing at happened, she smiled at him. “Oh William,” He shuddered at the artificially sweet tone. “Your fathe— I mean we, both have missed you so much.” 

Envy internally laughed at that. “I-I?” He didn’t know how to respond. The woman in front of him looked so strange. She looked like she meant well as far as caring about him went. However, at the same time he felt as though something was … off about her. 

Not caring one bit about his lack of confusion, Dante stood up quickly and headed towards the door. “You relax, I’ll be back with your Father in just a moment.”

“Okay.” He said blankly. 

Envy remembered feeling slightly comforted after this. Remembered thinking that this state of confusion was only temporary and that his ‘parents’, whoever they were, would remind him who he was and how he got here. He also remembered believing that this woman, who called herself his mother, truly cared for his wellbeing. 

. . .

“William?” The man in front of him asked.

Tilting his head to the side, the boy pointed to himself. A nod of the woman, Dante’s, head gave him all the answer he needed. “Yes?” There unsureness in his voice went easily unnoticed to the woman.

“Isn’t this wonderful, darling.” Hohenheim briefly glanced towards her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Thanks to our work, our son is with us once again.” He didn’t look at her, choosing to stare at the boys features more and she continued on. “We can be a family again.”

“A family?” The boy asked, his gaze darting between the two of them. “We’re a family?”

“I—”

“Of course, my son.” She interrupted. Keeping her eyes on her lover, Dante smiled lovingly. “Always have, always will.”

After so long Envy had gotten to the point that remembering William was something only thought of briefly. Sure he thought a lot about his hatred of his father and the years leading up to his abandonment but William had grown less and less important in his life. When the memories began to die down a century or so ago he stopped thinking about that time before his life as often. 

It was better that way anyways. He didn’t want to think of the Golden hair child whose life he saw through his very eyes. Didn’t want to think of the disappointment in his creators eyes when they realized that he wasn’t who they thought he was. Didn’t want to think of what he wasn’t and would never be. If he had actually been William then his father would have never left.

. . .

“William?” He didn’t turn around “William!” 

“Huh?” Looking rather surprised and somewhat bothered, Envy turned around to face his mother. 

“Ugh, you’ve been extremely unobservant these past few days.” Stepping into the plain bedroom, Dante slowly sauntered towards her son. “It’s beginning to upset your father and me.”

Hesitating, Envy looked away from her and out the window. “Sorry.” The simple statement left a thin line of disappointment on her lips. 

“It’s been over two weeks and you still haven’t gotten any better.” There was a brief flash of sadness in his eyes, something Dante didn’t really see. “I’m beginning to wonder if you’re not even trying to remember things.”

“I don’t know what to say” He said with a newfound irritation in his voice. “How is one supposed to just up and remember something?”

Narrowing her eyes towards him, she found herself losing patience. “I would have thought that getting a new chance at life would have made you the slightest bit grateful.” 

He sighed. “Of course I’m grateful towards Father, I just wish you didn’t expect everything to be …” He stopped himself. 

“To be what, William?”

Even without even knowing much about anything, Envy had always had this feeling that something was out of place. Dante, on the other hand, acted like nothing was ever wrong. Whether she was just pretending that it was or truly believed that everything was fine was another story. 

“I’m trying, I just wish you’d see that.” He spoke lowly. 

Frustrated and unable to pick up on his feelings, she responded with “try harder.”

“How am I supposed to do that? You’re acting if remembering is something I can just learn with some simple studying.”

“Just,” she examined exasperated “try to remember. If not for me then for your father.”

“Mhmm-hum,” he mumbled. 

“What did you say, I couldn’t hear you.”

Rolling his eyes at her, William continued. “You say he’s my father yet at the same time I don’t remember either of you being my parents. It’s almost as if one day I woke up and you two decided to make me call you that.”

“Make no mistake,” Crossing the room in furry, Dante was quick in shortening the distance between them. “I am your mother and Hohenheim is your father.”

. . .

Everything was normal that was what he kept telling himself. Nothing out of the ordinary on this particular night. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was doing anything different than his regular routine. It wasn’t uncommon for him to read for a little bit before bed, especially in the quiet confines of the parlor room. Candles flickered all throughout the place as the fire before them had died not too long ago. Other than the candles only a few scarce pieces of furniture and other things occupied the room. Such other objects included a grandfather clock, one that provided the only noise for the past couple hours. 

With his lover tucked away in bed since retiring an hour ago and his son quietly engaging in a compelling book, Hohenheim was rather convinced that there was nothing out of place with this picture. It wasn’t like this night was different than any other one, right? 

The only thing that he could possibly say was out of place at the moment was the page he was currently on. Between looking up at his son, the clock, and the book, he was quite certain that he hadn’t changed the page for over an hour now.

It was the twenty-second time, at eleven-thirty four P.M., did Hohenheim realize that William had caught onto his stares. 

“Father?” Flinching at the sound, Hohenheim hesitantly lifted his face away from the unread page. 

“Yes?”

A silence filled the air. “Do you hate me?”

He could feel a lump forming in his throat as the boy stared him down, looking too neutral for the situation. “What do you mean?”

“I was just asking if you hate me.”

Shaking his head, Hohenheim turned away from the boy. “No, of course not.” William could hear the reluctance in his voice, a degree of fear that controlled him. 

“Then you love me, right?”

He couldn’t respond, the lump from before now tightened up and filled his throat to the point of not letting anything come forth. He was forced to stare at his son who only grew more concerned with every unanswered second.

“Yes, of course I love my son.” William, or rather the new William, smiled softly at the words before looking back at his own work. 

“Good … I’m glad.” It seemed so weird to see himself act in such a … naïve way. It was one thing to see William acting like this, he wasn’t William anyway, and another to remember what he was like in the beginning.

Closing the book with a loud thud, Hohenheim stood up from his spot. “Goodnight.” He left before William had the chance to wish him one as well. 

. . .

“Darling are you alright?” It took a second for Hohenheim to process what had been said. He had been so transfixed in his mind that Dante’s statement had almost been inaudible to his ears. He hadn’t even heard her come into his study.

“Yes, of course.” Without looking up from the papers sprawled out on the desk, he mumbled out the only response that would warrant silence once again.

“Well,” she purred, placing a hand delicately on his back, “you don’t seem like it.”

“I’ve just been a little busy these past few days, nothing I want you worrying about.”

A genuine smile brightened her face at his words of compassion. “Maybe you should stay home instead of leaving if you’re having a hard time.” He stiffened, “I’m sure your friend would understand if you cancelled the trip.”

“No,” he exclaimed without any hesitation. “It’s been so long and I really do need to get out for a bit.”

“Then maybe I should come to—”

“William needs you here,” his voice stern, Hohenheim finally met her eyes. “As much as I would like for you to come, he needs you to be here for him.”

Huffing at his stubbornness, Dante narrowed her gaze towards him. “He’s an adult, Hohenheim. He’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself.”

“His age has nothing to do with it. You know he’s still out of sorts since the transmutation, he shouldn’t be left alone during this time.”

Disappointed and dejected, she crossed her arms harshly against her chest. “At least promise to come back as soon as possible.”

Hesitantly, he replied. “I understand, my love.”

. . .

He liked to avoid Dante, especially now that his father had left for some trip. Maybe before all this they had been on better terms. Part of him wanted to believe that her actions towards him were merely a sign of stress. In the end, he found being around her more tiring than the sleepless nights he spent wondering who he was.

Because of this, he was reluctant to go looking for her when something around the house seemed … out of place. Walking softly through the corridors, his eyes really took in the place that he felt he had been born into. Being as late as it was, the walls seemed much darker than they should have. Maybe it was him but the cream color only looked off putting with just a singular moving candle light to illuminate them.

The floor, despite his attempts at being quiet, creaked under each foot. The sound had him flinching as it reverberated through the emptiness and came back to him. This place, he thought, felt all too lonely. With just him and his mother, the world around him just fell flat and silent. Maybe it had been his role in his creation but being with Hohenheim had never been a lonely or tiring ordeal.

In fact, sometimes he wondered if it was Hohenheim who felt more stressed around him than the other way around.

By the time he came to her bedroom, he had every intention of turning around. With one hand balled up at his side and the other hanging limply in midair, he truly felt as if bothering her was more trouble than it was worth.

“Are you there?” He gasped slightly at her sudden statement.

“Yes, it’s me.”

Silence filled the void. “Can you come in for a moment?”

“Yes … but why?”

“Let’s just say, my son,” flinching at the venom in her voice at the words, he took a few steps back. “That there’s something you need to know.”


End file.
